For people who think cooking is hard

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Recently we had a farewell barbecue for our friend Mathilde, and I found myself with all of the leftover open bags of tortilla chips. Now, I don’t waste food–and I love tortilla chips–so I had to find a way to eat them before they all went stale without having nachos everyday for lunch. And then I remembered my favorite brunch item at our local pub: chilaquiles, a saucy mess of fried tortillas, salsa, and protein (beans, chicken, eggs, or… who knows?). I have a savory palate, and I’m a huge fan of savory breakfasts. It’s a great way to knock out the extra sugar that might make you feel energized in the morning but find you crashing hours later.

This is one of my favorite Mexican foods. I don’t have Mexican heritage, and I won’t pretend that I have the cultural knowledge or the skills to make authentic chilaquiles. But what I do have are innumerable tortilla chips, an intrinsic love of brunch, and about five minutes a day to make something super filling and delicious. This is merely an homage.

No excuses, people: these babies take a mere 20 minutes to bake! Switch up your go-to pasta, or try them on their own. They’re baked, not fried, and use zero olive oil–so I feel like I can put them in the “healthy” category, too…

Do you like beets? No? Even just a little? If you’re a beet-doubter then I dare you to try this hearty, earthy, eggy breakfast. I have it almost every day nowadays, especially if I’ve worked out in the morning, and I’ve posted it on my Instagram a few times. Several people have asked for the recipe after seeing my (scrumptious, decadent, purple) creation on social media. So here we go.

Two beets, two eggs.

Submerged!

Parboiling is my new favorite thing.

I use my fork to slide the egg white over the top of the yolk for quicker and more even cooking.

Somehow, some way, I have managed to submit a full-length draft of the theory chapter of my dissertation! This (along with the abundance of zucchini I received from our marketshare) calls for ratatouille. But because I am strange, this ratatouille is a bit unusual, too. It’s ratatouille, in theory.

Charoset is a sweet, sometimes alcoholic spread or chutney served on Passover. As a ritual food it’s spread on the cracker-like bread substitute called matzo, and meant to symbolize the mortar between the bricks of Egyptian building projects in the story of Exodus. As an Egyptologist I find this topic problematic, but let’s stick to the food: Ashkenazi Jews–those of European ancestry–usually make charoset with chopped apples, walnuts, wine, and raisins, while Sephardic Jews–who trace their ancestry to north Africa, Spain, and the Middle East–make theirs with dates, figs, or apricots, and lots of spices. I much prefer a date base for my charoset, and I recently decided that this spread is far too delicious to make only once a year. I’ve been eating it on toast, and sometimes with a spoon. My recipe adds a New England twist–maple syrup–and the balancing tang of salted almonds.

Greetings from Egypt, where I’m on the tail-end of a very long research trip–one that has, unfortunately, made it pretty hard to cook things for myself. But lo! Here’s a quick and unique way to prepare a tuna salad. Habibi (darling).

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for ages! It’s my go-to quick lunch nowadays. My friend Miriam and I just spent a long time trying to figure out what to call it: it’s sort of like a stew, since it’s nearly soupy and you can eat it over rice, but it’s more like a curry due to its spice. We came up with Creamy Tomato Melanzane (melanzane = another word for eggplant). Give this a try on its own or over some basmati!